Greek church
is community
legacy
Hope for rural hospitals
Junior cooks in the spotlight
www.covington.coop

Montgomery
Youth Tour â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;18

Manager
Ed Short
Co-op Editor
Patty Singleton-Seay
ALABAMA LIVING is delivered to
some 415,000 Alabama families and
businesses, which are members of
22 not-for-profit, consumer-owned,
locally directed and taxpaying electric
cooperatives. Subscriptions are $12
a year for individuals not subscribing
through participating Alabama electric
cooperatives. Alabama Living (USPS
029-920) is published monthly by the
Alabama Rural Electric Association
of Cooperatives. Periodicals postage
paid at Montgomery, Alabama, and at
additional mailing office.

Hope for rural hospitals
While Alabama’s rural hospitals face numerous financial
challenges, hope is not lost. Many areas in the
state are finding partnerships and tax revenue to
maintain their level of health care.

9 Spotlight
38 Gardens
29 Around Alabama
42 Outdoors
43 Fish & Game Forecast
44 Cook of the Month
54 Hardy Jackson’s Alabama
ONLINE: alabamaliving.coop
ON THE COVER: The 2018 Montgomery
Youth Tour participants make the most
of this educational and memorable
experience for high school juniors.
Details about the trip are on Pages 6-7.
PHOTO: Patty Singleton-Seay
MAY 2018 3

Each year we need to review capital
credit information to help our members
better understand this valuable
cooperative benefit. Capital credits
reflect your ownership in the cooperative
which operates as a not-for-profit
business.
When you signed up to receive
electric service from CEC, you became
a cooperative member-owner. You are
not a customer, you are a member-owner
and there is a big difference.
While investor-owned utilities return
a portion of any profits back to their
shareholders, electric cooperatives
operate on an at-cost basis. Instead
of returning leftover funds known as
margins, to people who may not live in
the same region, or even the same state
as the utility provider, CEC allocates and
periodically retires capital credits (also
called patronage dividends, patronage
refunds, patronage capital, or equity
capital) based on how much electricity
you purchased during a year.
As discussed at the annual meeting,
CEC will retire $1.7 million in capital
credits to its members this year.
Members will receive a check, or credit
on their bill, this summer based on their
previous purchases with the cooperative.
Any amount less than $15.00 is applied
to active electric accounts.
Capital credits due will first be applied
to any account in arrears and, if payable
to deceased eligible members, can be
settled on a present-value basis to the
legally appointed representative of
those estates. Proper documentation is
required to obtain these funds.
Understanding capital credits can
be confusing, so each year we publish

these questions and answers to provide
clarification for our members.
WHAT ARE CAPITAL CREDITS?
Capital credits are margins or profits
credited to cooperative members based
on their purchases from the cooperative.
These credits are used by the cooperative
as working capital for a period of time,
and then paid back to the membership
as conditions permit. This differs from
dividends investor-owned utilities pay
shareholders, who may or may not be
customers of the utility.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY
COME FROM?
Member-owned, not-for-profit electric
co-ops set rates to generate enough
money to pay operating costs, make
payments on loans, and provide an
emergency reserve. At the end of each
year, we subtract operating expenses
from the operating revenue collected
during the year. The balance is called an
operating “margin.”
HOW ARE MARGINS ALLOCATED?
Margins are allocated to members as
capital credits based on their purchases
from the cooperative (how much
electricity the member used). Member
purchases may also be called patronage.
ARE CAPITAL CREDITS RETIRED
EVERY YEAR?
Each year, the CEC board of trustees
makes a decision on whether to retire
capital credits based on the financial
condition of the cooperative as permitted
under Alabama law, the CEC bylaws
and requirements of our lenders-RUS,
www.alabamaliving.coop

| Covington Electric Cooperative |

CFC and CoBank. During some
years, the co-op may experience
high growth in the number of
new accounts, or severe storms
may result in the need to spend
additional funds to repair or rebuild
power lines. These and other events
might increase costs causing
the board not to retire capital
credits. For this reason, CEC’s
ability to retire capital credits
reflects the cooperative’s
strength and financial stability.

minimum retirement check that
will be written to current members
is $15.00 or more. Active members
who are getting less than $15.00 will
see the retirement as a separate line
item credit on their electric bill.

DO I LOSE MY CAPITAL
CREDITS IN THE YEARS
THE CO-OP DECIDES NOT
TO MAKE RETIREMENTS?
No. All capital credits
allocated for every year
members have been served by
CEC are maintained until such
time as the board retires them.
HOW WILL THE
RETIREMENT WORK?
Inactive or former members who
no longer purchase electricity from
CEC (but who purchased electricity
during the years being retired) will
receive a check.
Due to the expense involved
in processing printed checks, the

WHAT IF I HAVE MOVED?
If you move or no longer have
electric service with CEC, it is
important that you inform the
cooperative of your current address,
so that future retirements can be
properly mailed to you.

WHAT IS THE METHOD OF
CALCULATING CAPITAL
CREDITS/RETIREMENT?
The retirement is based on a
percentage of the member’s total
accumulated capital credit balance.
The amount retired this year is
subtracted from the total
amount that was allocated in
previous years. The retirement
will be made from the capital
credits of record that have been
assigned to your account.
Before distributing the capital
credits, your board of trustees
at CEC must first consider
the financial condition of the
cooperative and the needs for
capital funds for the coming
years. The percentage figure
used to calculate the annual
retirement of capital credits
determined by the board is
set at a level that maintains
the financial integrity of the
cooperative.
If you have questions about
capital credits, please feel free to
contact CEC for more information.
As always thank you for your
continued support and cooperation.

Allocation Example
Step 1 Determine the total amount of your 2017 electric bills less 6.2 percent for state utility taxes. One way to do this
is to divide the total amount of your 2017 electric bills by 1.062.
Step 2 Multiply the sum derived from step one by the factor of .06865. This factor is derived by dividing
operating margins by billed accounts receivable.
EXAMPLE CALCULATION
Step 1 $1,929.36 (total of 2017 bills) divided by 1.062 = $1,816.72 (total billed less taxes)
Step 2 $1,816.72 x .06865 = $124.72 (total 2017 allocation)
(Patronage capital credit allocations cannot be utilized by individual members to apply against a current month’s electric bill.
VERY IMPORTANT: Allocation is an approved method to assign margins to a member’s capital credit account. Allocation
differs from retire. Retire is the payout from your capital credit account and is a percentage of the allocation.)
Alabama Living

“If not me, then who?” This is
a quote from fallen United States
Marine Corps hero, 1st LT Travis
Manion when he described his sense
of duty as a member of the military to
his mother. Manion’s inspiring story
of courage and sacrifice was shared
6 MAY 2018

at the Montgomery Youth Tour in
March by motivational speaker Cea
Cohen Elliot.
Students not only heard about
Manion’s incredible story, but they
also learned about the foundation
that was created in his honor which

empowers veterans and families of
fallen heroes to help develop character
in future generations.
Cohen-Elliot has a special way of
engaging students on Youth Tour and
she also encourages them to make
wise choices and stand strong against
www.alabamaliving.coop

| Covington Electric Cooperative |

negative peer pressure. Hearing
from inspiring speakers is one of
the many benefits of attending the
Montgomery Youth Tour.
Making new friends, learning
about cooperatives, interacting
with elected representatives and
touring historical places like the
state Capitol are also important
aspects of the Youth Tour program.
Fun activities are planned each
evening during the trip like cosmic
bowling and a dinner/dance at the
Capital City Club.
Students complete a survey
after the trip and one of the
places considered a top favorite
by most is the Dexter Avenue
King Memorial Baptist Church.
The historical significance of this
church is eloquently described by
its tour director Wanda Battle. She
has a unique gift of connecting
with people of all ages that can’t
easily be described. Students
learned about Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.’s legacy at the church and
his positive impact on the world
during the Civil Rights Movement.
One can’t help but feel uplifted
and inspired as Battle guides each
group through the church.
The Montgomery Youth Tour

concluded with a visit to the
Alabama State House where
many legislators spoke about
current issues impacting our state.
Students had the opportunity to
ask questions and take a photo
with a representative from their
cooperative’s service area.
CEC selects its Montgomery
Youth Tour participants through
an essay competition held each fall
for high school juniors. Electric
cooperatives throughout Alabama
sponsor around 155 students to
attend the Montgomery Youth
Tour each year.
On March 13, CEC’s Youth
Tour students competed for
two slots to attend the national
Youth Tour in Washington,
D.C., this summer. They were
given a test on cooperative facts
and interviewed by a panel of
judges. The top four participants
are pictured below from left,
Bella Worley, first alternate from
Pleasant Home School, Josh Ruth,
Washington winner from Pleasant
Home School, Kristen Brazwell,
Washington winner from Straughn
High School and Codi Clemmons,
second alternate from Samson
High School.

Co-op 101

Dexter Ave. Baptist Church

Alabama State House

Cosmic Bowling

Alabama Living

MAY 2018 7

| Covington Electric Cooperative |

Congratulations to the Samson
Lady Tigers 2A state champions
Photo courtesy of Samson High School

The CEC offices will be closed on Monday,
May 28 in observance of Memorial Day.
We honor the brave men and women who
gave their lives for our freedom.

8â&#x20AC;&#x192; MAY 2018

www.alabamaliving.coop

May | Spotlight
This Month In

®

ALABAMA HISTORY
Honoring Our People

May 12, 1916

Internationally acclaimed author Albert L. Murray was born in Nokomis, Alabama. A noted critic, novelist, and biographer, Murray graduated from Tuskegee University and often wrote about the intersections of African American and American culture. His writings include seminal works on jazz and the
blues, the “Scooter” series of semi-autobiographical novels, and “The Omni-Americans,” a collection
of essays that presents an authentic analysis of black life. Murray cofounded Jazz at the Lincoln Center
in New York City and received many honors throughout his life, including the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the National Book Critics Circle and the DuBois Medal from Harvard University.
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1867

‘Making Alabama’ exhibit begins tour of State’s counties
“Making Alabama. A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit,” displaying 200
years of Alabama history and beyond and presented by the Alabama
Humanities Foundation, is now crisscrossing the state on a 19-month
tour to each of Alabama’s 67 counties.
The display blends artistic collages, interactive computer tablets
and an audio medley of song and spoken word to tell the story of
Alabama – from becoming a territory to achieving statehood. It also
conveys a message of hope in its presentation about the future. Four
exhibits have been built, and they will travel the state concurrently so
that all counties will be able to experience this historic event in that
time period.
Organizers say AHF was a natural choice for coordinating the traveling exhibit with decades of experience through its partnership with the
Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit.
In addition, host communities are assembling their own historical
exhibits and collateral programming and activities to showcase their
own history and put their signature on this event.

The exhibit will be in Cullman County through May 25 at
the Burrow Museum at Wallace State Community College
in Hanceville.
Other sites in May are:
Bullock County - Red Door Theatre, Union Springs
Talladega County -Heritage Hall Museum, Talladega
Marengo County -Marengo History and Archive
Museum, Demopolis
To learn more, go to: MakingAlabama.org.

Whereville, AL
APRIL’S ANSWER
This structure towers over the McFarland Park and Recreation Area in Florence, overlooking the O’Neal Bridge
and Tennessee River. The park is home to numerous
entries from the same person will be disqualified. Send your answer
festivals and special events all year long. The random
by May 7 with your name, address and the name of your rural elecguess winner is Joan Allen of Franklin EC.

Identify and place this Alabama landmark and you could win
$25! Winner is chosen at random from all correct entries. Multiple

tric cooperative. The winner and answer will be announced in the
June issue.
Contribute your own photo for an upcoming issue! Send a photo
of an interesting or unusual landmark in Alabama, which must be
accessible to the public. A reader whose photo is used will also win
$25.
Submit by email: whereville@alabamaliving.coop, or by mail:
Whereville, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124.

Alabama Living

CORRECTION
In the story headlined “MMI’s 175 years of history” in the March 2018
issue, a quote in the final paragraph was misattributed due to an editing
error. The quote, “Being here has meant everything to me,” should have
been attributed to W.F. “Noopie” Cosby of Dallas County, a former MMI
cadet who later served in the state Legislature.

MAY 2018 9

Al

| News you can use |
SOCIAL SECURITY

Facts you should know about
enrolling in Medicare Parts A & B

U

nderstanding Medicare isn’t as difficult
as you might think. It’s a benefit most
working Americans can count on. Here are
some facts you might not know about the
program.
Can I still get Medicare at 65?
Yes, you’re still eligible for Medicare
starting at 65, no matter what year you were
born.
If you or your spouse worked and paid
Medicare taxes for at least 10 years, you’re
eligible for Part A (hospital insurance) at
age 65 for free. Part A helps pay for inpatient care in a hospital or skilled nursing
facility following a hospital stay. It also pays
for some home health care and hospice
care.
You’re also eligible for Part B (medical
insurance) if you choose to get it and pay
a monthly premium. Part B helps pay for
services from doctors and other health care

Kylle’ McKinney, SSA Public Affairs
Specialist, can be reached by email at
kylle.mckinney@ssa.gov.

providers, outpatient care, home health
care, durable medical equipment, and some
preventative services. If you are receiving
Social Security benefits already, you will be
automatically enrolled in Medicare Parts
A and B at age 65. Because you must pay
a premium for Part B, you can choose to
turn it down. However, if you don’t enroll
in Part B when you’re first eligible for it,
and choose to enroll later, you may have to
pay a late enrollment penalty for as long as
you have Part B coverage.
If you’re not receiving Social Security
benefits, you have a seven-month period
(your Initial Enrollment Period) to sign up
for Part B. Generally, your initial enrollment period begins three months before
your 65th birthday, includes the month you
turn age 65, and ends three months after
your birth month.
If you are covered under an employer
group health plan, you may have a special
enrollment period for Part B.
If you are 65 or older and covered under a group health plan, either from your
own or your spouse’s current employment,
you may have a special enrollment period

during which you can sign up for Medicare
Part B. This means that you may delay enrolling in Part B without having to wait for
a general enrollment period and without
paying the lifetime penalty for late enrollment. If you think a special enrollment period may apply to you, read our Medicare
publication at www.socialsecurity.gov/
pubs/, and visit the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services at Medicare.gov.
To avoid a tax penalty, you should stop contributing to your Health Savings Account
(HSA) at least six months before you apply
for Medicare.
You can withdraw money from your
HSA after you enroll in Medicare to help
pay for medical expenses like deductibles,
premiums, coinsurance, or copayments. If
you’d like to continue contributing to your
HSA, you shouldn’t apply for Medicare or
Social Security benefits.
How much does Part B coverage cost?
You are responsible for the Part B premium each month. Most people will pay
the standard premium amount, which
is $134 in 2018 if you sign up for Part B
when you’re first eligible. This amount can
change every year.
Learn more at www.socialsecurity.gov/
benefits/medicare.

PET HEALTH

Vaccinations critically important for companion pets
“Vaccines are among the most successful and
cost-effective health investments in history.”
— Seth Berkley, CEO of the Vaccine Alliance

M

any times when I go to work, there are
one or two tiny puppies in the isolation
room suffering from severe diarrhea and
vomiting, looking miserable from the parvo
virus. Some do not make it home. This does
not need to happen! Timely vaccination
could have prevented their sufferings.
Your veterinarian is the best person to
address your situation, but here are some
guidelines.
Proper protection should start with vaccinating the mother before she gets pregnant. A vaccinated mother will have an
immunity that she transfers to her babies.
In an ideal breeding situation, it is assumed
that the puppies are protected for the first
Goutam Mukherjee, DVM, MS, Ph.D.
(Dr. G) has been a veterinarian for more
than 30 years. He works part time at
Grant Animal Clinic and is a member of
North Alabama Electric Cooperative.

10 MAY 2018

8 to 9 weeks of their life. However, we see
an inordinate number of puppies whose
mothers were not vaccinated and do not fall
under the “ideal” category.
That’s why many veterinarians will recommend starting the first distemper/parvo
vaccine as early as 6 weeks of age. Vaccines
should be given every 2-4 weeks until the
puppies are 16 weeks old. For high-risk situations, the last vaccine can be given at 19 to
20 weeks of age. So, if you start at 7 weeks,
the sequence will be 7, 10, 13 and 19 weeks.
If you adopt an unvaccinated older dog, you
will need to give the initial vaccine and one
booster three weeks later.
Now about rabies. Dog, cat and ferret
owners are required by Alabama law to have
their pet immunized for rabies when the animal reaches three months of age. The rabies
vaccine must be given by a veterinarian, or a
licensed vet tech in the presence of a veterinarian. Many communities hold annual low
cost rabies vaccination clinics. I have seen
rabies vaccines given in a town-sponsored
event for as low as $5!
Frequently I get asked if the vaccine from

the co-op is as good as ours. I don’t have an
answer, as I have not come across a study
comparing both. My recommendation is
to go through your vet as they provide a lot
more than just a “shot.”
I feel the puppy/kitty visits are THE most
important vet visits of all! This is the time
where early health issues are discussed and
lifelong health habits are established. However, if getting to a vet is impossible for you,
I have to suggest that you get your vaccines
from a place that stores and handles their
vaccines properly.
Last, but not least, here’s a little bit on
cats. Cats also get a parvo-like disease called
Feline Distemper or Panleukopenia. Vaccination should start as early as 6 weeks and
be boosted every 3 weeks until they reach
16 weeks. Outdoor cats should also get Feline Leukemia vaccine.
Now, for the folks who are little leery of
“over vaccination.” The issue of what constitutes “over vaccination” and related health
problems is a highly contentious issue and
best kept aside for a consultation with your
vet.
www.alabamaliving.coop

SUBMIT PHOTOS ONLINE: www.alabamaliving.coop/submit-photo/ or send color photos with a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Photos, Alabama Living, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124
RULES: Alabama Living will pay $10 for photos that best match our theme of the month. Photos may also be published on our
website at www.alabamaliving.coop and on our Facebook page. Alabama Living is not responsible for lost or damaged photos.
Alabama Living

MAY 2018 11

‘Like being insi
Church is legacy of Greek community and its namesake
By Emmett Burnett

M

albis Memorial Church is often discovered accidentally
while driving somewhere else. Commanding Alabama
Highway 181 in Daphne is a Greek cathedral-like fortress, flanked with brick stone towers, braced in Corinthian columns, centered under a domed roof.
Somewhere else is now here.
“Here,” is the centerpiece of the Malbis Plantation, cornerstone
of Baldwin County’s small but industrious Greek community, and
legacy of the community and church’s namesake, Jason Malbis.
On a trip to Athens, shortly before his death, the Grecian forefather instructed followers to build his church in Malbis. And oh
boy, did they.
Formally the “Sacred Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery
of the Presentation of Theotoko,” the church has surprised and
delighted visitors since day one with good reason. It is spiritual,
reverent and eye popping.
“First timers can’t believe what they are seeing,” notes Nafseka
Malbis, caretaker, tour guide and descendant of founder Jason Malbis. “For me, there is no one favorite item. Everything is special.”
The interior is detailed with hand-rendered frescos – paintings
that adorn virtually every space. Art depicts the life of Christ
chronicled from the Testaments. More than 150 paintings tell stories, including Christ before the High Priest, the Sermon on the
Mount, Moses receiving the 10 Commandments, religious heroes
and other Bible scenes.

Domed towers majestically
flank the brick, limestone and
marble cathedral-like Grecian
worship center that is Daphne,
Alabama’s Malbis Memorial
Church. Located on Alabama
Highway 181, the church was
built on the request of area
Grecian immigrant and leader
Jason Malbis. It was dedicated
Jan. 3, 1965.

ide a rainbow’
Photos by Mark Stephenson
“It is like art comes to life and speaks to you,” adds George Kalasountas,
frequent visitor and fan. “Many have told me upon leaving the sanctuary,
they’ve never seen anything like it and they are correct.”
Kalasountas, who came from Greece in 1956 and today is vice president
of the Malbis Memorial Foundation, adds, “We have many Greek Orthodox
Churches, but this is the cream of the crop. It is simply beautiful.”
The fresco murals took three master artists flown in from Greece nine
months to complete. The rotunda features a portrait of God, the Almighty
surrounded by 12 murals of disciples and religious leaders. Artist Spyros
Tzouvaras hand painted the portraits from scaffolding 75 feet above the floor.
He lay on his back, applying paint and brush strokes to the ceiling, rendering
the images. It took him three months.
Hand carved figures were brought from Greece and assembled in the
church. The bishop’s throne, pulpit and other features are carved in white
marble extracted from the same Grecian mines that supplied the Parthenon
millenniums earlier.
On the outside above massive oak doors are mosaics created with thousands of tiles about one-inch square. Above the middle door is a portrait
of Jesus. Above him are images of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; all are a
composite of mosaic tiles. Each tiny piece was prepared in Italy, shipped to
Malbis, and installed on site.
Outside, the left tower contains a bell system: 49 bell tone
generators that at full volume can be heard six miles
away. It is a call to worship, a reminder of
Grecian heritage, and the legacy of

Writer Emmett Burnett is given a tour of the Malbis Memorial Church by
George Kalasountas, Vice President of the Malbis Memorial Foundation.
The sanctuary features art work of tiled mosaics, hand painted murals,
and sculpture covering all areas of the interior walls and ceiling.
Alabama Living

MAY 2018 13

an immigrant who dreamed of a new world in Baldwin County.
Jason Malbis was born Antonios Markopoulos in Doumena,
Greece. But in his 40s, he moved to America for a new life. Joined
by friend William Papageorge, the two
searched Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Mississippi before buying 120 acres in
Baldwin County for $5 an acre.
Others followed and more land was added to become The Malbis Plantation, established in 1906. “We had a bakery, power plant, bank, timber company, hotel, and
farms,” Kalasountas recalls. “It was a self-sufficient. We all had jobs to do. We all had a
place in the community.”
But they did not have a church – yet.

Church was dedicated on Jan. 3, 1965. If you were Greek you were
there. And on that day everybody was Greek.
“People came from everywhere,” Kalasountas says. “The line to
get in went around the building and people
were in tears upon leaving.”
A New York Times October 1965 review
noted, “The church is unique in the United
States. A visitor’s first reaction upon entering
the building is one of awe. It is like being inside a rainbow.”
Amazingly, this grand cathedral is financed mainly by love and donations. The
Malbis church has never held a formal congregation but conducts regularly scheduled
worship services. The building is also open
to the public from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon‘It is my desire that you
day-Saturday.
build a church’
Through the years, concerns were raised
In the early 1940s Jason Malbis visited
about next door Daphne – Baldwin CounAthens, Greece, but could not return due to
ty’s largest city – continuing to expand, and
World War II disruptions. He became sick Rising 75 feet above the church floor, the
possibly encroaching on Malbis. “I think
and died in Athens, July 22, 1942, but not dome interior of the church features the
we are OK,” Kalasountas says. “Daphne is a
before sending a letter to beloved Grecians Pantocrator – A fresco of the Almighty
good place, but we are doing just fine here in
of Baldwin County: “It is my desire that you and depictions of disciples, prophets and
Malbis, too.”
evangelists. The paintings were hand
build a church.”
Though Jason Malbis never saw the church
rendered to the ceiling by Grecian artists
By 1960, the Greek settlement of about 60 on scaffolding.
that bears his name, his remains are interred
– mostly farmers, tradesmen and working
in a crypt inside.
people – spearheaded a fundraising drive of $1 million. Adjusted
But you can feel his spirit saying, “Build my church.” Outside,
for inflation, that is more than $7 million today.
adjacent to the church, 100 Grecian graves answer, “Mission acGroundbreaking was held in 1960, and Malbis Memorial
complished.”
The sanctuary, as seen from the balcony. The white marble of the Iconostasis at the front is made from hand-carved marble from the same Grecian
quarries that supplied the ancient Parthenon.

14 MAY 2018

www.alabamaliving.coop

Alabama Living

MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 15

Hospitals
key to
quality rural
health care
While rural hospitals face numerous
financial challenges, hope is not lost.
Many areas in Alabama are finding
partnerships and tax revenue to
maintain their level of health care
By M.J. Ellington

W

hen people in rural Randolph County faced the prospect
of life without a nearby hospital or else raising taxes,
voters in Roanoke, Wedowee and surrounding areas approved a 1 percent sales tax increase in 2015. Two years later, people in the small East Alabama county celebrated the opening of
shiny new Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama. Tanner Medical
Services, a Georgia not-for-profit hospital management company,
operates the facility.
Randolph’s vote came following the 2011 closing of Randolph
County Hospital in Roanoke and the pending loss of nearby Wedowee Hospital, both due to financial problems and aging structures. The county is hardly alone with its hospital financial challenges.
Part of the reason rural Alabama hospitals face such challenges
is because the state has not expanded Medicaid, said Dr. Marsha
Raulerson, a semi-retired Brewton pediatrician and past president
of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. “People think
Medicaid is a welfare program; it is so much more,” she says. “If
people just knew, it affects all of us.”
Now 76, Raulerson said at age 39, she came “kicking and
screaming” to Brewton with her nephrologist husband who was
recruited out of the University of Florida to open the first dialysis

16 MAY 2018

Photos by Allison Law
program between Mobile and Dothan.
She had planned to spend the rest of her life teaching at the
University of Florida’s medical school, but once she got used to life
in a town of 5,400 people, she realized it provides a good quality
of life and a great place for children to grow up. Having access to
good health care nearby is an important factor, but Raulerson said
this year, she is concerned.
“For the first time, our hospital is in the red,” Raulerson says.
“There are so many people who are uninsured, who cannot pay.
Insurance and Medicare have lower payments to rural hospitals.
Expanded Medicaid would help with this.”

A ‘trifecta of challenges’

Dr. Don Williamson, Alabama Hospital Association executive
director and former state health officer, said rural hospitals face a
“trifecta of challenges” as they seek to shore up financially ailing
hospitals. Those challenges include:
• Alabama’s decision not to expand Medicaid left a large number of people without health coverage to pay for needed care.
• Federal Medicare and payments to health providers are lower for small hospitals than the biggest hospitals, based on a
federal formula that mandates larger reimbursements for the
www.alabamaliving.coop

The gleaming new Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama in Wedowee, 14 miles up the road from Roanoke, opened in November. Tanner Health
System of Carrollton, Ga., was managing the old Wedowee Hospital and was willing to provide funds for equipping a new hospital, if county
residents could provide construction funding. Eighty-six percent of the voters in Randolph County approved a tax to build a new hospital.

largest hospitals. The federal wage index that helps determine
how much health providers get paid in every state lists Alabama at the bottom.
• Alabama is the only state in the country that does not pay
any of the state’s matching share required to bring in federal
revenue for Medicaid programs. Of every dollar spent on the
program, the federal government pays 70 cents while Alabama’s share to bring in the federal funds is 30 cents. But unlike other states, Alabama’s share comes from a voluntary tax
hospitals pay to tap the federal revenue.
Hospital Association figures show that 86 percent of rural
hospitals are operating in the red as compared to 69 percent of
all hospitals having a negative operating margin, says Rosemary
Blackmon, vice president of communications. Hospitals with other sources of revenue, such as taxes or other services, may be able
to shore up the bottom line.
“Right now, when a rural hospital is in trouble, a county tries to
rally by raising taxes,” Williamson says. “What if that money went
to Medicaid? We could bring in 10 times as much federal revenue.
It probably would have been cheaper.”
But rural counties like Randolph have done a remarkable job
working to save rural hospitals, Williamson says. In recent years,
Alabama Living

several other small Alabama cities faced with losing their local
hospital found partnerships and tax revenue to help pay for new
facilities.
The impact of hospitals on the life of rural communities helps
cities and counties keep them viable. Blackmon said the annual
payroll of rural hospitals is $552 million, and 44 percent of total
employment in rural counties can be attributed to health care.
Pell City in St. Clair County and Clanton in Chilton County
established partnerships with St. Vincent’s Health Care to open
new, smaller hospitals in their towns. Williamson said Haleyville
in Winston County wants a local tax to help with operating costs
at Lakeland Community Hospital.
Three other rural hospitals – John Paul Jones Hospital in Camden, Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital in Demopolis and
J.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital in Greenville – became part of the
UAB Health System in February. UAB’s financial and managerial
expertise, hospital compliance training and clinical resources are
part of the package.
In March, the state Legislature approved a bill to create a resource center housed at UAB to provide support for nonprofit,
rural, public hospitals in the state that are facing economic pressures. It would assist these hospitals in areas including purchasing
MAY 2018 17

and supply chain, strategic
planning, insurance and
cost reporting, coding, recruitment and compliance.
While the bill passed, it
has not been funded. The
UAB Health System will
work to determine interim
funding prior to the 2019
legislative session to start
providing support to eligible hospitals.
Hospitals that can backfill with taxes or other
sources of revenue have
more ways to supplement the income they get
through Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance
reimbursement.

the Alabama Rural Health
Association.
Quinney says when the
healthcare delivery system
begins to fail, particularly if
the future of the local hospital is uncertain, it’s time
to get creative with solutions. “Without a hospital,
the economic base fails,” he
says.
He wants a greater role
for allied health professionals, nurse practitioners
and physicians assistants,
and telehealth that enables
doctors at remote locations
to visit patients in rural
areas using computer and
The emergency department at Wedowee Hospital closed in November with the
electronic devices. He’d like
opening of the new Tanner Medical Center/East Alabama.
to see more hospitals have
Rural areas need new ideas
a small number of inpatient beds and the ability to have alternate
In rural areas, the population tends to be older, poorer and less
ways to generate operating revenue.
likely to have insurance to pay for hospital and other health care
Quinney is excited about the possibilities of “telehealth carts”
costs. One wrinkle in the uninsured population is that Medicare,
that help patients in rural areas consult with doctors in other cities
Medicaid and private health insurance companies negotiate the
using electronic and computer technology.
rates they will pay for a patient’s care. People without insurance
Michael Smith directs the telehealth cart program at the Alacoverage pay the highest rate because there is no company that is
bama Department of Public Health. Smith said the department
negotiating rates on their behalf. As a result, uninsured people in
expects to have telehealth cart programs available at 60 county
rural areas may not seek medical care until a problem is harder to
health department offices around the state this year.
deal with, and when they do, the cost for their care may be higher
M.J. Ellington is a Montgomery freelance journalist whose longthan what people with insurance pay.
time health and state government reporting and editing career inReady access to good health care becomes everyone’s problem
cluded the Montgomery Advertiser, The Decatur Daily, Florence
when the local hospital and healthcare delivery system are at risk,
Times-Daily and The Anniston Star. Contact her at ellingtonmj15@
a point at which rural communities should approach the issue
gmail.com.
with new ideas, says Dale Quinney, longtime executive director of
The Randolph County Hospital in Roanoke closed in 2011, due to financial problems and an aging facility.

18 MAY 2018

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MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 19

20â&#x20AC;&#x192; MAY 2018

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Alabama Living

MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 21

Medal of Honor winner saved by a tiger
By Miriam Davis

“T

he tiger saved us,”
In 1965, then-Sergeant First
says Command Sgt.
Class Adkins was sent to the
Maj. Bennie Adkins
A Shau valley to advise South
(U.S. Army, Retired) matVietnamese forces and to imter-of-factly. “The North Vietpede infiltration of the North
namese soldiers were more
Vietnamese into the south.
afraid of it than they were of
The valley, which runs along
us.”
Vietnam’s border with CamAdkins, 84, is speaking of
bodia and Laos, became part
the aftermath of the Battle of
of the trail along which the
A Shau when, in 1966, he and
North Vietnamese brought
other survivors evaded the enprovisions and troops down
emy after a team of 17 Amerinto the south and as such was,
ican Special Forces and about
as Adkins describes it in his
400 of their South Vietnamese
book, “a hotbed of activity.”
“I can tell you that none of
allies were attacked and overus were happy to be in that
run by a North Vietnamese
camp,” Adkins says in A Tiger
division of 16,000 troops. In
Among Us. Sitting in that val2014, President Barack Obama
ley, “about thirty miles from
awarded Adkins the Medal of
another friendly camp …. [w]e
Honor for his actions during
were like fish in a barrel.”
that battle. Adkins and co-author (and Alabama Living
Risking his life
gardening columnist) Katie Opelika native and retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins
received the nation’s highest military award in 2014.
PHOTO BY JOHN OLIVER
Adkins’ team had been
Jackson tell his story in their
warned that an attack was imminent, and the Battle of A Shau
forthcoming book, A Tiger Among Us.
began about 4 a.m. on March 9, 1966, with a deafening North
“I was just doing my job,” insists Adkins. “It was my training.
Vietnamese artillery and mortar barrage. Adkins ran to take his
… When you’re picked out to be one of the elite, you try to live
position in a mortar pit from which he and his crew fired illumiup to that.”
nation and high-explosive rounds.
Adkins’ job was as a Special Forces intelligence sergeant. After
Wounded 18 times, Adkins repeatedly risked his life during the
being drafted into the Army in 1956, he found being a clerk-typist
battle. He was blown out of his mortar pit three times by direct hits
“not for me.” Special Forces was a challenge both physically and
from enemy mortars and lost several entire mortar crews. But he
mentally. But, says Adkins, “I had too much pride to quit.”

22 MAY 2018

COLLECTION OF VICTOR UNDERWOOD

Adkins is congratulated by Lt. Col. Kenneth
Bradford Facey, the C Team commander during
the Battle of A Shau.
COLLECTION OF BENNIE ADKINS

After his first tour in Vietnam in 1963, Adkins
returned to his home base in Fort Bragg, N.C.,
where he was awarded his first Purple Heart.
COLLECTION OF BENNIE ADKINS

Adkins and Mary Arington were married April 7,
1956, in her family’s living room near Opelika.

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Alabama Living

MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 23

continued manning his position until
speaks all over the county trying to inthe mortar pit was finally destroyed
spire in people a love of country and
by RPGs (rocket propelled grenades).
the desire to be a good citizen.
Disregarding enemy mortar and snip“And an appreciation of the milier fire, Adkins also rescued American
tary,” adds Adkins’ co-author Katie
and Vietnamese wounded and transJackson. She points out that less than
ported them to safety, and then – again
1% of the population has served in the
under direct fire – loaded them onto
military and that “the general populaevacuation helicopters. When a load
tion doesn’t understand the military.”
Adkins and Jackson, an adjunct inof desperately needed supplies was instructor in Auburn’s School of Comadvertently dropped into a mine field,
munication and Journalism, worked
Adkins rushed into the mine field to
Though Adkins was nominated for the Medal of Honor
on the book for three years. This inretrieve it.
shortly after the battle, he didn’t receive it until nearly
volved tracking down and interviewAfter 38 hours of intense fighting – 50 years later.
COLLECTION OF BENNIE ADKINS
ing the five other survivors of the bathungry, thirsty, and exhausted – the
tle. “All of them have a deep admiration and respect for Bennie,”
Americans were ordered to evacuate. In the chaos of the withsays Jackson. “Even years later, they all say he’s amazing. … He was
drawal, Adkins went back to rescue a badly wounded comrade.
the one who really did things that were superhuman.”
When they returned to the evacuation point, the helicopters had
Any money made from A Tiger Among Us will go to the Benalready gone.
nie Adkins Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides
Which is where the tiger came in.
Adkins and a small group of survivors had no choice but to
scholarships for Special Forces enlisted personnel transitioning
evade the North Vietnamese in the dense jungle until they could
from the service. “One of the reasons this is so important to
be rescued. On their second
Bennie,” says Jackson, “is
night, Adkins and his men
because he knows what it’s
could hear enemy soldiers
like to move from the milsearching for them. They
itary to the civilian world,
also heard another sound
and it’s not easy.”
– something big rustling
Last year the foundation
in the undergrowth nearby.
awarded the first scholarThen Adkins heard a low
ships; 25 will be awarded
this year.
growl and saw eyes glowing
All of this was made posin the dark – a tiger, drawn
sible by the 400-pound Inby the smell of blood coverdochinese tiger that saved
ing the wounded survivors.
Bennie Adkins all those
The war had given tigers a
years ago.
taste for humans.
The North Vietnamese
“That tiger was my
heard the tiger, too, for
friend,” chuckles Adkins.
they hastily pulled back, alLeft, the cover of “A Tiger
lowing Adkins and the othAmong Us,” published by Da
er survivors to slip away.
Capo Press this month and
They were picked up by heavailable at DaCapoPress.
licopter the next day.
com. Below, Katie Lamar
Shortly after the battle,
Jackson, who co-authored the
book.
Adkins was nominated
PHOTO BY CRYSTAL JACKSON
for the Medal of Honor.
Nothing happened at the
time. But in 2014, Adkins
received a phone call from
President Obama informing him that he was to be
awarded the nation’s highest military honor.
“Super humbling,” is how
Adkins describes it. “I’m
very humbled to be one of
the few living soldiers to
wear this medal.” He now
24 MAY 2018

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Alabama Living

MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 25

Ivey signs Alabama Broadband
Accessibility Act

H

The act creates a grant program to be
administered by the Alabama Department
of Economic and Community Affairs. Individual grants may be awarded for up to
20 percent of the project costs to telecommunications companies, cable companies
and electric cooperatives.
Alabama will be further helped by a
pilot program, grants and loans from the
federal government. Congress, through an
effort led by Congressman Robert Aderholt, included in the omnibus spending
bill a $600 million pilot program that will
enable applicants to finance a project by
combining loans and grants to provide
broadband to eligible rural and tribal areas.
Ivey’s office estimates that more than
842,000 Alabamians are without access to
a wired connection capable of 25 megabits
per second download speeds. One million
have access to only a single wired provider, and another 276,000 don’t have any
wired internet providers available where
they live.

PHOTOS BY DANNY WESTON

igh-speed internet is no longer just a
luxury for our rural areas. It is a necessity to help rural residents conduct business, to expand education opportunities,
to create avenues for remote health care
and to spur economic development.
During this legislative session, the Alabama Rural Electric Association (AREA),
which publishes Alabama Living magazine, and its member cooperatives championed the bill known as SB149, or the
Alabama Broadband Accessibility Act.
The legislation will encourage private investment in broadband infrastructure in
unserved rural areas.
In late March, Gov. Kay Ivey signed the
bill into law.
“This common sense legislation will
help us attract new broadband to areas
that need it most, especially in rural Alabama,” Ivey said.
The bill, which is just a first step in a
long process to bring internet to rural areas, was sponsored by Sen. Clay Scofield
and Rep. Donnie Chesteen.

Electric cooperatives hear updates
at 2018 Annual Meeting
Gov. Kay Ivey was the opening speaker for the 71st Annual Meeting of the Alabama
Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives in April. Ivey spoke to delegates from Alabama’s 22 electric cooperatives about the progress her administration has made since
she was sworn into office a year ago, and laid out her platform for the next four years if
she is elected. Allison Flowers, right, of Prattville, and Alabama’s representative to the
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Youth Leadership Council, spoke to the
delegates about her YLC experience and thanked them for their support. She is a member of Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, and was given a $250 check from Regions
Bank to further her education. Delegates heard updates from the heads of several state
associations and agencies, including information on the court system, the 2020 Census,
upcoming elections, tax reform and issues affecting farmers and agriculture.
26 MAY 2018

(Ed. note: In response to the “My favorite
teacher” article in February’s magazine, we
received this letter.)
I was born in Marshall County in 1928 and
grew up going to public school there.
Things were a lot different then. During
the 1930s, Horton Elementary School was
a four-room school with two grades in two
of the rooms. Us girls liked to play church
during recess. When outside recess was
over, the teachers would ring a bell. Since
the last one in line was called a cow tail, everyone hurried to get line. Problem solved!
My favorite teacher was Mr. Teal. He
was the principal at Horton and my sixthgrade teacher. When I finished sixth grade,
Mr. Teal also obtained permission to teach
the seventh grade to several of us that
summer. A few others and I were promoted to the eighth grade, completing 7 grades
in 5 years all because of Mr. Teal. That fall
we went to Douglas High School.
Mr. Teal was an exceptional person.
Not only was he intelligent, he was a father-figure who treated us as if we were his
own children, teaching us about real life and
how to behave. Whenever there was a funeral at a nearby church, if we wished to go,
he would excuse us from class. Usually we
all went to escape being under a teacher’s
watchful eye.
During the summer of my seventh-grade year, a few friends and I
pulled off our shoes and hid them in the
pot-bellied stove at school. When Mr. Teal
saw us barefoot, he got a switch after us.
We ran down to the outhouse where we
knew he would not follow us. When he
was out of sight, we slipped back into the
school and grabbed our shoes. It was a fun
game to us.
Audrey Royer, Trinity

Another Alabama song

I was amazed Emmett Burnett failed to
mention the Ft. Payne group “ALABAMA”
in the article (“Songs About Alabama,” April
2018). One of their best songs was “My
Home’s in Alabama.”
Certainly up there with “Sweet Home Alabama” by that group from Florida. Thanks.
Jim Appleton, Mentone
Ed. note: We agree. However, our writer reached out several times to the group’s
headquarters but was unable to make contact. You might want to revisit the article we
did on lead singer Randy Owen in April 2016
(available at alabamaliving.coop).
www.alabamaliving.coop

Montevallo, National Day of
Prayer Breakfast at The American
Village. 8 to 10 a.m. Doors open and buffet
line starts at 8 a.m., program begins at 8:30.
This year’s speaker will be James Spann, chief
meteorologist for Birmingham’s ABC 33/40.
Tickets are $20. To make a reservation, email
jwasyluka@americanvillage.org or call
(205) 665-3535 x 1045.

11

Theodore, National Public Gardens Day at Bellingrath Gardens. Get

Featuring more than 60 hot air balloons from around the United States, the Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon
Fest will be May 26-27 in Decatur.

to know the Gardens with a special behindthe-scenes tour conducted by the Horticultural Management Team. Tour begins at 10:30
a.m. and is included in Gardens admission.
Free for members, $13 adults, $7.50 children ages 5-12. For more information about
Bellingrath, visit bellingrath.org. For more
information about National Public Gardens
Day, visit
nationalpublicgardensday.org.

Montgomery, 21st Annual
Herb Day. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., ‘Living
Block’ at Old Alabama Town, 301 Columbus
Street. Free, public educational event for the
family, including lectures/demonstrations
featuring experts on identifying, growing, and
using herbs. Music, children’s activities and
shopping in the open-air market. A variety of
vendors will sell garden-related wares, including a huge selection of herbs and other plants,
crafts, herbal teas, goat cheeses and yard art.
Oathsblog.com

12

Russellville, Pioneer Day. 9
a.m.-5 p.m. at Sloss Lake, Highway
24 East. Living history demonstrations on how
people lived, worked and played 200 years ago.
Features information on historical figures, Native Americans, War of 1812 soldiers, Civil War
camps, and period dancers. Food and artisan
products for sale. Free. 256-332-8827

12

Robertsdale, Baldwin County
Boss Babes present the 2018 Spring
Fling at the Baldwin County Coliseum, 19477
Fairground Road. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendor
and craft show with more than 100 vendors
displaying various products such as boutique
clothing, handmade jewelry, art, home décor
and more. For more information, search Baldwin County Boss Babes on Facebook.

18-19

Arab, 34th Annual
Poke Salat Festival.
Features 90 vendors, hand-crafted items,
entertainment, play area, on-site artisan
demonstrations, pet parade, food court, and
corn hole tournament. The Bluegrass Band
competition, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, is Saturday with cash prizes for the top
bands. 50 North Main Street.
PokeSalatFestival.com

West Blocton, Cahaba Lily
Festival, registration begins at 8
a.m. Program in the morning with indoor pre-

To place an event, e-mail events@alabamaliving.coop. or visit www.alabamaliving.coop. You can also mail to Events
Calendar, P.O. Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124; Each submission must include a contact name and phone number.
Deadline is two months prior to issue date. We regret that we cannot publish every event due to space limitations.

Alabama Living

sentations by nature/wildflower groups. Field
trips to view the lilies begin after lunch, with
storytelling and musical entertainment at 3
p.m. CahabaLily.com

26

Coffeeville, Coffeeville Day,
10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Town Hall,
Highway 69. BBQ competition, volleyball, bingo, vendors, free games and activities for children and raffle for a Yeti cooler. Proceeds benefits Project Head Start. beyerlavergne@
gmail.com or 251-769-7633.

Lake Martin,
Art on the Lake at
Children’s Harbor. Original art, including canvas, jewelry, pottery and sculpture available
for purchase. Portion of the sales benefits
Children’s Harbor. childrensharbor.com

June 2

Millbrook,
Hydrangea Fest.
8 a.m.-12 noon. Discover the unique and
natural history of hydrangeas at Lanark’s
Hydrangea Fest. Maria Pacheco-West, Lanark
grounds specialist, will present a Hydrangea Talk at 10 a.m. followed by a tour of the
heirloom garden and hydrangeas around the
pond. There will also be a plant sale benefiting the gardens at the Alabama Wildlife Federation. alabamawildlife.org

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Twitter @Alabama_Living

MAY 2018 29

Al

A healing place
Storybook Farm provides healing for children with physical and emotional challenges

An aerial view of Storybook Farm near Opelika,
which recently added 26 acres of pine timber
forest. The new acreage will allow the farm to
expand its programming to include more time with
the horses and additional agricultural outlets.
PHOTO COURTESY STORYBOOK FARM

By Lindsay Miles Penny

I

t all began while folding laundry.
Storybook Farm Director Dena Little was completing household chores while thumbing through Practical
Horseman when she came across a story about a horse therapy farm in Virginia.
Little, who grew up caring for and competing on horses,
had taken a hiatus from farm life as she ran a bakery in Atlanta and cared for her two small children. It was 2002, and
she had just sold her bakery and moved her young family to
a small farm in Auburn. She yearned to get back to her roots
and share her love of horses with her children.
That’s when the article struck a chord.
Little immediately got in contact with the owner of the
horse therapy farm in Virginia. Soon after, she gained certification for her farm to provide equine-assisted therapy for
children needing support, and Storybook Farm was born.
“I really had no idea the impact that Storybook would
have, or its longevity, and I didn’t realize the need for programming like this,” Little says. “When Storybook opened,
we quickly had a waitlist. I felt the Lord was leading me
down this path to utilize my background with horses and
to translate that to helping families that are facing crises and
uncertain futures. Getting to walk alongside these families
has become my distinct honor.”
Children from age 2 to young adulthood who face obsta-

30 MAY 2018

cles such as autism, cerebral palsy, cognitive delays, sensory integration issues and bereavement situations come to
Storybook Farm for horseback riding and weekly lesson
plans, including games and activities. They learn how to care
for animals and develop social skills by interacting with farm
volunteers. Horseback riding also provides physical benefits such as improvements to balance, motor skills, muscle
strength and coordination.

Personal attention

An English literature major in college, Little wanted to
create a whimsical, real-life fairytale for every child. Willy
Wonka, Mrs. Potts, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are just a
few of the horses to come through the farm. Driving up to
the farm and looking out over the lush, rolling acres immediately transports anyone into a storybook.
“We started with three children, and will have about 1,500
this year alone,” Little says. “We don’t turn anyone away. We
always make it work. One of the greatest compliments a family has ever given me is a parent saying, ‘I feel like our child
is the only one who rides at Storybook.’ That’s what I want it
to be. I wanted it to be so personal and special for everyone
who comes to the farm. Many of the children we see and
serve at Storybook have ambulatory issues, and they’ve never had that mobility and that freedom to just be one of the

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Alabama Living

MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 31

Top to bottom: 1 and 2, More than 250 Auburn University students a week
volunteer at Storybook Farm — greeting children and families, securing
riding helmets, leading and walking alongside riders, exploring and
learning in the Secret Garden, helping with lesson plans, cleaning stables,
repairing fences and other chores. 3: The Secret Garden allows children to
learn about nutrition and caring for plants. 4: A young rider makes a new
friend at Storybook Farm.
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY STORYBOOK FARM

kids. To be one of the kids and not be set apart by the condition
that brought you to Storybook is so important to me.”
Not only are the children and families impacted by Storybook
Farm, but the effect the farm has on volunteers is evident. With
more than 300 volunteers each week from Auburn University and
the community, the people at the farm are committed to carrying
out the farm’s mission.
“I started out as a volunteer not really knowing anything about
children with disabilities or horses,” says Andrew Skinner, executive communications director. “I’d originally started coming out
to the farm with a friend. At the time, I wasn’t doing much with
my life. I remember painting a fence, and looking around seeing
all the kids riding horses and smiling, and looking back at that
now, I realize it was what I needed in my life at the time and that
it was a little pat from God.”
Skinner quickly became part of the Storybook Farm staff, and
hopes to instill an attitude of service with current and future volunteers.
“Our goal is to give these kids a chance to just be a kid,” said
Skinner.
Families are referred to the farm by counselors, pediatricians
and therapists, and most commonly, by word of mouth from other families.

Gardens as therapy

A newer addition to Storybook Farm is the Secret Garden. Located in the middle of the farm, the garden provides a wealth of
activities to help farm goers improve memory, cognitive abilities,
task initiation, language skills and socialization.
The horticultural programming the Secret Garden provides allows those with physical limitations an opportunity to strengthen
muscles and improve coordination, balance and endurance. The
garden also teaches children about nutrition, caring for plants
and the importance of a healthy diet.
Partnerships with Auburn University and Mobile Studio, a
company that specializes in creating outdoor spaces, allowed the
garden to be created with maximum accessibility in mind.
The bounty harvested from the garden is given back to the
community and shared with food insecure families.
The services provided at Storybook Farm, which is served by
Tallapoosa River Electric Cooperative, are free to families, thanks
to funding through corporate sponsors, grants and fundraisers.
“Our biggest fundraiser is our Kentucky Derby Dinner and
Auction,” Little says. “It’s grown from less than 100 people to
hopefully over 500 people this year. People come dressed in their
Kentucky Derby best, eat and enjoy a really fun event.”
The Kentucky Derby Dinner and Auction will be May 5. Tickets are available at hopeonhorseback.org/events/derby.
For more information on Storybook Farm’s services or volunteer opportunities, call 334-444-5966 or info@HopeOnHorseback.org or visit hopeonhorseback.org.

32 MAY 2018

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MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 33

| Alabama People |

Jordan Lee

Already a fishing legend at 23
In 2015, 23-year-old Jordan Lee of Grant became the youngest
competitor on the top-tier Bass Angler Sportsman Society Elite Series.
So far, he’s only fished four Bassmaster Classics, the world championship of professional fishing, but has already won two of
them. In 2017, he became one of the youngest champions
at 25 when he won his first Classic. In March 2018, he
became only the third man in history to win back-toback Classics in the 48-year history of the event with
his victory at Lake Hartwell, S.C. – John Felsher
How does it feel to join the ranks of legendary
bass anglers like Rick Clunn and Kevin VanDam
to win back-to-back Bassmaster Classics at
such a young age?
In my wildest dreams, I never thought I was going to win the 2018 Classic. It really is overwhelming. I’ve never won a Bassmaster Open event. I’ve
never won an Elite Series event. I guess there’s just
something about this tournament for me. I didn’t
have a game plan for Hartwell. I didn’t have one
magical spot. I knew that with the warm weather,
docks were going to be a player. I saw tons of
big bass suspending under every dock. It was
just amazing to see that.
How did you first get interested in
fishing?
I got interested in fishing through
friends at small lakes and ponds. At
the age of 10 was the most memorable.
That’s when I caught the fishing bug, when
I started fishing my grandfather’s pond
in my hometown of Cullman. I remember that day vividly as I was pulling out
4- and 5-pound bass with my first rod
and reel. I knew at that moment that
I wanted to do this for the rest of my
life.
Years later, my parents saw a growing passion and bought me an aluminum boat to fish local tournaments
on Lake Catoma. Fast forward 10
years and my dreams began unfolding one tournament at a time. Fishing
on the Auburn University Team was a
life-changing, growing experience that
opened the doors to my future in fishing.

34 MAY 2018

As a young competitor fishing against some former champions
and other legendary anglers, how do you prepare yourself to
compete against all those other great, experienced anglers?
It’s just me against the fish. I don’t worry about other anglers and their experience versus mine.
How did winning your first Classic in 2017 at such a
young age change your life in the months that followed?
The amount of exposure has changed. With that the
workload and travel has increased. I also feel like I am
well known wherever I go now.
Did you personally change in any way after winning a
Classic?
No. I stay levelheaded throughout the ups and
downs. Stay humble, always.
What was the strangest or most unexpected
thing to happen to you as a result of your
winning the Classic?
I’m amazed by the amount of people
who know who I am. I’ve had people
from Germany who are big fans waiting for me at the boat ramp one day
after I finished fishing.
After winning two Classics back
to back, what’s next on your life
goals or bucket list?
I want to win the Angler of the
Year title. I also want to win an
Elite Series tournament and enjoy spending time with my wifeto-be and our dogs.
What advice would you give to
young anglers now looking at
you and your success who would
like to become professional bass
anglers and perhaps compete in
a Bassmaster Classic in coming
years?
Just focus on fishing. The sponsors
will come. Stay in school! College programs are a great way to work your way
up and help your skill level increase.

Photo by Chris Brown

How did you get started in professional
fishing and work your way up to competing
in the biggest event in the sport?
I started fishing local tournaments
throughout high school. Then I began fishing for the Auburn University bass fishing
team. I qualified for my first Bassmaster Classic
through the Carhartt College Program. After
college, I fished the Bassmaster Opens for one
season and then qualified for the Elite Series.

You and your older brother, Matt Jordan, compete directly against
each other on the tournament trail. What’s the competition like
between yourself and your brother?
I get this question a lot, There are 108 more anglers, so the competition is equal among all of us. It’s not just me against him.

Besides fishing, what other things do
you like to do?
I enjoy playing golf, traveling and
watching professional basketball and
college football.
www.alabamaliving.coop

Stacy’s is the place
for fresh cooked fare
Demopolis eatery draws
locals as well as visitors

Stacy’s Café is in historic downtown Demopolis.

Story and photos by Emmett Burnett

I

n a park across the street from Stacy’s Café, a stone marker notes the
1919 chicken auction that funded
construction of nearby Rooster Bridge.
Coincidentally, today’s special at Stacy’s is fried chicken. It, too, is monumental. The entire menu is.
Occupying the ground floor of 123
W. Washington St. in Demopolis, Stacy’s Cafe seats about 115 and does so
often.
“I loved this place from the first
visit,” says frequent fan and Marengo
County attorney Abisola A. Samuel,
recalling her first encounter.
“On a friend’s recommendation, I
visited, ordered something with rice
and gravy, and was amazed. It tasted
just like home cooking. I remember
saying ‘wow, who is this lady?’”
This lady is Faunsdale, Alabama’s
Stacy Averette Pearson, wife, mother,
U.S. Air Force veteran, and owner of
the namesake café with a Demopolis
and ever-expanding statewide following. Many restaurateurs start out
dreaming of being in the food service
field. Stacy did not.
Stacy Averette Pearson spent time in the U.S. Air Force,
“My experience was basically work- but has found her calling as an Alabama restaurateur.
ing in fast food places during college
and later as a waitress at the Faunsdale
In 1991, Stacy returned home. As a
Bar and Grill,” she recalls, while checking
waitress at the Faunsdale Bar and Grill,
menus for today’s customers. “My intenshe learned a lesson in projecting the daitions were to attend college and study scily business of running a restaurant: “You
ence.”
can’t,” she says. “The only one thing in the
After graduating from Demopolis High
restaurant business you can predict every
School in 1984, the future restaurateur
day is every day is unpredictable.”
enrolled in Livingston University. But she
Recognizing her culinary talents, family
left college in 1987 to join the Air Force
members encouraged Stacy to take a bold
and served a three-and-a-half year hitch,
step, which sent life in a new direction.
working as a computer programmer.
In March 1999, the waitress bought the
diner-bar
that employed her, changing the
Stacy’s Café
name to Faunsdale Café. She still owns it,
123 W. Washington St.
Demopolis, AL 36732
14 miles from Demopolis. But she sought
334-654-5120
more, wanting to venture into catering
Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m
from a larger restaurant. She wanted DeDemopolis
Sunday–Friday
mopolis.
Menu updates are available on the
restaurant’s Facebook page - or by
On Sept. 26, 2017, she took a new culiasking anyone in Demopolis.
nary plunge, opening Stacy’s Café. “I knew
36 MAY 2018

the town would support me because
many from Demopolis visited our
Faunsdale location,” she recalls. “But
many were apprehensive about it being
off Demopolis’s main highway. We are
in downtown. If you want to eat here
you have to find us.” Not a problem.
“If I am in Demopolis I am at Stacy’s,” says attorney Samuel. “The food
here is the best, bar none. Not sure I
can pick a favorite dish, but one would
be the grilled chicken Greek salad.”
In addition to the previously referenced monumental chicken, entree
options include steaks (ribeye and
hamburger), catfish plates, oyster platters, po’ boys, seafood gumbo, and red
beans and rice. Side dishes of greens,
mashed potatoes, okra, fried green tomatoes, and vegetables accentuate the
menu. And may we have a serious discussion about cornbread?
Stacy’s cornbread comes in varieties
– regular, Mexican, and a new entry
chocked with crawfish. You heard me,
crawfish. “Her crawfish cornbread and
crawfish bisque are delicious,” smiles
husband Eddie Pearson, offering a testimonial about his wife’s latest project,
a crustacean creation.
He adds, “Everybody loves it.”
Which is good because there is much to
love. Cornbread is served slab size.
Such innovations are sparked by original thought. New dishes are the result
of experimentation. “I come up with an
idea, then do research, cook it at home,
and serve to my family,” Stacy says. “After
tweaking and re-testing, it may premiere at
the restaurant.”
She credits success to a simple concept:
“Everything we serve is homemade, hand
prepared, and cooked fresh.” It takes work.
Though open for lunch at 11, staff arrives by 8:30. There is no time to dilly-dally. “Demopolis is a 12 o’clock eating town,”
Stacy says. “We don’t have one particularly busy day.” But when church lets out on
Sunday, as the old saying goes, Katie bar
www.alabamaliving.coop

the door. But typically every day is brisk and preparation starts
early.
“Our salads are from hand cut leaf lettuce, not bagged,” Stacy
says. “Burger patties are hand-patted and fries hand carved. Catfish is locally raised.” Gravy on mashed potatoes or rice has never
seen a can nor spent the night in a package.
The menu changes daily with specials. Customers frequently
call inquiring about shrimp and wild rice casserole or when seafood gumbo will again grace the menu. Other items are everyday
fixtures, including burgers, salads, chicken fingers and salad varieties such as ham, bacon, and popcorn shrimp.

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he merry, merry month of May is
on inspiration, motivation, education and
Another garden tour planned for that
filled with opportunities to up our
the versatility of what “gardening” can be.
weekend is the Historic Decatur Associagardening game, including finding
“Not all gardening is the same,” Allen
tion Garden Tour, to be held 1-5 p.m. on
inspiration from fellow gardeners through
says, “and the tour not only gives you great
May 20. This tour, which has been held
public and private garden tours.
ideas for your own garden, it also shows
annually for 30 years, encompasses two
The thing about gardens is that they
that you can garden anywhere.”
neighborhoods – the Old Decatur and
are everywhere, from little garden oases
It also offers rare glimpses of private,
Albany Historic Districts. The neighborin many towns and cities to a plethora of
personal gardens. “These are gardens that
hoods are a couple of miles apart so visfine public gardens and arboretums
itors can drive to each then park
that offer year-round chances to see
their cars for a lovely walk to see
gardens in their glory and to learn
home and church gardens and
more about gardening. In addition,
neighborhood parks.
the Alabama Tourism Department
Tour chairwoman Cindy Upton
offers a map of Alabama’s Garden
said that planning for the event is
Trail (https://alabama.travel/garstill under way but she hopes to
den-trail) that Alabamians and
have up to eight sites on the tour,
tourists alike can follow to their
plus participants can amble past
heart’s content.
other historic homes in their prime
But what about those private garspring garden finery.
dens tucked back in hidden places?
Of course these two tours are just
Several organizations in the state—
a taste of what’s likely to be availfrom Mobile to Dothan to Hunts- Among the many sights that visitors on the Lee County Master
able in communities throughout
ville and parts in between—offer Gardener 2018 Garden Tour will see is Joel’s Orchids by the
the state. To learn more about othtours (usually in the spring and Lake, a lakeside property that features an orchid greenhouse,
er garden tour opportunities, check
early summer) of just those kinds gracious outdoor entertainment areas and a vineyard.
with local public gardens and garof garden gems and at least two of
dening organizations or with local
them are coming up this month on the
we would never be able to see without the
and state chamber and tourism offices.
weekend of May 19-20.
tour,” notes Hardgrave.
You’re sure to discover many opportuniOne of those is the Lee County MasThis tour requires a bit of driving and,
ties to enjoy gardens and you may even
ter Gardener’s Garden Tour, a two-day,
because of the large number of gardens
find the perfect Mother’s Day gift for the
self-guided biennial event that this year
on the tour, it typically takes visitors
garden-loving moms in your life.
features 10 private gardens and two teachboth days to see all of the gardens, but
ing/demonstration gardens in the Auticketholders can set their own pace over
For More Information
burn/Opelika area.
the two days. The price of admission also
Information on the Lee County Master GarThe tour, which will run 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
includes a picnic lunch provided on Saturdeners Garden Tour can be found at www.
on May 19 and 1-5 p.m. on May 20, feaday by Chicken Salad Chick, a cosponsor
leemg.org. Advanced tickets are $30 ($28
tures a wide array of gardens, including
of the event.
each for groups of 10 or more) and can be
the grounds of an historic Opelika home
purchased at several local businesses and
(where part of the movie “Norma Rae”
MAY TIPS
at the Lee County Extension System or Auwas filmed), an orchid house, a smallburn Chamber of Commerce offices. Tickets
 Deadhead early spring flowers and
space container garden and a 10-acre
will also be available for $35 at the “gate” of
spring-blooming bulbs.
property populated with native plants as
any of the gardens on the days of the tour.
 Fertilize
ornamental
and
vegetable
well as fruits and vegetables.
plants according to soil test
Information on the Historic Decatur AssociAccording to Sheila Allen and Ronrecommendations.
ation Garden Tour is available at www.faceda Hardgrave, coordinators for the Lee
 Weed garden beds and remove
book.com/Historicgardentour/. On the
County event, the tour, which began in
invasive plants from the landscape.
day of the tour, information on the gardens
2006, is a fund-raiser that supports LC Plant or transplant trees and shrubs as
and maps of the tour route will be available
MG’s projects, programs and scholarships
summer temperatures begin to rise.
at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Debut also an awareness-raiser that focuses
 Watch for pests and diseases on all
Katie Jackson is a freelance
writer and editor based in
Opelika, Alabama. Contact her at
katielamarjackson@gmail.com.

If you know of other garden tours in the
state, share them with us all on the Alabama Living Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AlabamaLivingMagazine/.

www.alabamaliving.coop

Alabama Living

MAY 2018â&#x20AC;&#x192; 39

| Consumer Wise |

Play it cool

Tips to help you stay comfortable this summer
By Pat Keegan and Brad Thiessen

Q:

My energy bill was pretty high last summer. Do you have
any tips for how to keep comfortable this year without
breaking the bank?

Fahrenheit. Also consider insulating your hot water pipes.
Minimize use of your oven, and don’t run the dishwasher or
washing machine until they are full.
Now that you’ve worked on keeping heat out of your home and
Absolutely! There are several ways to make your home more
minimizing the waste heat generated inside, let’s look at how to
comfortable this summer. Some of the solutions are lowmake the inside air cooler. That starts by assessing your air condicost, while others require a bigger
tioning (AC) system.
investment. In the end, you can
If you have central AC, make
be more comfortable and have
sure it’s working efficiently. Relower energy bills this summer.
place the filters regularly, and
The first step is to reduce your
check to see if your supply regishome’s solar gains – the heat
ters are open. AC systems need to
energy it collects from the sun.
push an adequate amount of air
Since most solar gains originate
into the supply ductwork to functhrough your home’s windows,
tion properly.
awnings are an effective soluIf you do not have central AC,
tion. They can reduce solar heat
window units can be an efficient
gain by as much as 65 percent
solution if they are ENERGY
on south-facing windows and 77
STAR®-certified and only used to
percent on west-facing windows. Since most solar gain enters through your home’s windows, awnings
cool part of the home, part of the
You can also try less expensive and shade trees are effective in making your home cooler during
time. Make sure to seal any opensummer months.
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID SAWYER, FLICKR
solutions on the outside or inings around the window unit.
side of your windows, like reflective films and solar screens. Heavy
The least expensive way to cool yourself is air movement. A ceilwindow coverings also work and have the added benefit of reducing fan or portable fan can make a room feel up to 10 degrees cooling heat loss in winter.
er, but keep in mind, fans cool people. Turn them off when you’re
Two areas that can be major sources of heat gain are skylights
not in the room.
and attics. Reflective film or specially designed window coverings
If you live in an area where the night air is cool and not too huare potential solutions for skylights. Attics can become extrememid, you can exchange your hot air for cool outdoor air by openly hot and radiate heat through the ceiling into your living space.
ing the windows and turning on your kitchen and bath fans. Or
Abundant venting through the roof, gable or eaves is one solution,
you can place a fan in one window to exhaust the warm air and
but you also need adequate attic insulation.
open another window at the opposite end of the house to allow
Another important step is to seal air leaks around windows,
the cooler night air inside. The permanent (but more expensive)
doors, plumbing and wiring penetrations to keep warm air out
option is to install a whole-house fan.
and cool air in.
Remember, there are several ways to keep cool and increase
Excess heat can also be generated inside your home – and at
comfort. I hope these tips will make your summer more enjoyable
your expense. Here’s a quick list of simple steps you can take:
than the last!
Make it a habit to turn off lights and TVs in rooms that aren’t
This column was co-written by Pat Keegan and Brad Thiessen of Collabin use.
orative Efficiency. For more information on staying comfortable during
Incandescent light bulbs generate a lot of heat. Replace them
summer months, visit: www.collaborativeefficiency.com/energytips.
with LEDs.
Unplug devices you aren’t using, like chargers, computers, monitors and consumer electronics. Many of these use phantom powADDITIONAL RESOURCES
er that keeps them on constantly (even when they’re not in use!),
For ideas on how to save energy through radiant head that comes in
which generates heat.
through windows and skylights, see:
Maintain appliances for peak efficiency. For example, clean your
energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficient-window-treatments
refrigerator coils.
energy.gov/energysaver/windows-doors-and-skylights/skylights
Lower your water heater temperature to no higher than 120 deTo look further into maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of your AC
grees Fahrenheit and your refrigerator to no lower than 38 degrees
system, check out these links:

A:

Patrick Keegan writes on consumer and cooperative affairs
for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the
Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation’s 900-plus
consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives. Write to
energytips@collaborativeefficiency.com for more information.

40 MAY 2018

energy.gov/energysaver/room-air-conditioners
www.consumerreports.org/window-air-conditioners/energy-efficient-window-air-conditioners/
energy.gov/energysaver/central-air-conditioning
And for general weatherization tips for all seasons, visit:
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_checklist_consumers

Peach season is in full swing
State has proud heritage
of training for the skies

Stories | Recipes | Events | People | Places | Things | Local News

College football :
Can Bama repeat?

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ar!

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Idol chat

Tradition returns

Redeveloped Toomer’s Corner
ready for Auburn fans

Catching up with
American Idol’s Taylor Hicks

Living color

Brewing up business
State-made spirits making
impact on economy

Centre nursery ready
for poinsettia season

Picture postcards
tell our story
Biscuit bounty

Season’s greetings

Archives’ card collection provides
link to milestones in history

Got an outdoor/hunting product
or offer a service that people
need to know about?
THIS IS AN
If so, this space is where OPPORTUNITY TO
you should be
REACH MORE THAN
advertising.
ONE MILLION
readers every month.
Still thinking about it? Consider this:
97% of Alabama Living’s readers say they trust the advertising in our publication over any other source
85% of our readers have read 4 out of the last 4 issues
they’ve received
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85% of those garden owners purchased maintenance
items last year
41% own more than 3 acres of land

Contact Jacob Johnson
800.410.2737

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Alabama Living

MAY 2018 41

| Outdoors |

Toothy terrors!

Water wolverines provide outstanding sport

O

ften called jackfish, southern pike,
duckbill, and other names – including a few unfit to print – chain
pickerel hit extremely hard and fight with
speed and ferocity, but most Alabama anglers consider them a major nuisance.
Sometimes erroneously called pike,
chain pickerel resemble northern pike,
but seldom exceed 30 inches long or
weigh more than three pounds. The Alabama state record weighed 6 pounds, 6
ounces and came from the Perdido River system in Baldwin County. A similar species, redfin pickerel, range across
southern Alabama, but rarely weigh more
than a pound. The state record redfin only
weighed 13 ounces.
“Chain pickerel are native to Alabama,
but not many people target them,” says
Chris Greene, an Alabama Wildlife and
Freshwater Fisheries Division biologist.
“Chain pickerel are found throughout the
state. They look similar to northern pike,
but a chain pickerel gets its name from the
chain-like markings on its side.”
Chain pickerel range from southern
Canada to Florida and west across the
Mississippi Valley to Texas. Abundant in
most Alabama river and reservoir systems, pickerel thrive best in large sluggish
streams and oxbows with minimal current
and thick vegetation. The rivers, lakes,
bayous, creeks, sloughs and backwaters
of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta near Mobile
probably offer the best pickerel fishing in
Alabama.
“Chain pickerel tend to go more in the
backwaters, but anglers can find them in
main channels and secondary creeks,”
Greene says. “They generally prefer more
clear water and tend to orient toward
aquatic vegetation. Some better Alabama
waters for catching chain pickerel include
the Mobile-Tensaw River drainage, the
Tennessee River, Warrior River and other
places.”
While small in stature, chain pickerel more than compensate with swiftness
and viciousness. These voracious killers
love aquatic weeds, the thicker the better.
John N. Felsher lives in Semmes, Ala.
Contact him through Facebook.

42 MAY 2018

Caught by accident

Cliff “J. R.” Mundinger shows off a chain pickerel
he caught on a spinnerbait. PHOTO BY JOHN N. FELSHER

In dense grass or lily pad patches, pickerel typically hover motionless, using their
splendid splotchy green camouflage to
hide as they wait to ambush enticing morsels that wander into range.
When they spot something irresistible,
pickerel viciously flash out with incredible
speed to sink their needle-like teeth into
prey – or lures!
“I’ve always caught pickerel in the backwaters and up the creeks around weeds,”
says Cliff Mundinger, an angler. “They
love being around thick matted grass, lily
pads, hydrilla and other vegetation. Pickerel are very exciting fish to catch. When
they hit a bait, you know it. A 3-pound
chain pickerel will put up a great fight, especially on light tackle.”
Highly aggressive, pickerel feed primarily upon fish, including threadfin
shad, sunfish, shiners, minnows and
other succulent morsels, but may attack
anything. These opportunistic predators
occasionally eat crawfish, lizards, snakes,
amphibians and even mice or small birds
that venture too close to the water. Sometimes, they grab dragonflies perched on
grass stems or even leap from the water to
snatch low-flying insects from the air.

“A pickerel will hit just about anything a
bass might hit,” Greene says. “A lot of anglers consider them trash, but they can be
fun to catch. They are powerful fish and
hard hitters.”
In Alabama, anglers mostly catch chain
pickerel by accident when fishing for bass.
Crappie anglers also frequently catch
pickerel when fishing weedy waters with
minnows, threadfin shad, shiners or other
live bait. Almost any lure or live bait that
might tempt a largemouth bass or crappie
could provoke a vicious strike from a chain
pickerel, including spinnerbaits, jerkbaits,
spoons, crankbaits and similar lures. They
occasionally hit topwater baits and relentlessly pursue weedless frogs buzzed across
matted grass.
When hooked, they put up a spirited
fight with lightning runs and powerful
lunges. They frequently jump like largemouth bass. People intentionally fishing
for these water wolves should use short
steel leaders to prevent them from slicing
through line with their razor teeth.
“My two favorite baits to catch jackfish
are spinnerbaits and jerkbaits,” Mundinger says. “Jacks absolutely love a jerkbait
because they are primarily fish feeders. I
also like to catch them on topwater frogs
run through the lily pads. In the middle of
summer, anyone throwing a frog over grass
in the backwaters will most likely catch a
jack.”
Big pickerel make excellent eating, but
smaller versions of these long, skinny fish
don’t yield much meat. Most people release
them because of their numerous small
bones, but the white, flaky meat tastes delicious with a mild flavor and no oily taste.
Handle pickerel with care. Sometimes
called snakefish, these agile toothy beasts
often bend their bodies and shake violently looking for something to bite when
grabbed. If they don’t bite a person, they
might drive a hook into a finger. Also pay
attention to the very sharp gill plates that
can slice flesh. Use pliers to remove the
hooks in order to avoid those teeth.
Although pickerel don’t receive much
love or attention in Alabama, they can turn
a humdrum day into an exciting excursion
for any light-tackle enthusiast fishing in
weedy waters.
www.alabamaliving.coop

Tables indicate peak fish and game feeding and
migration times. Major periods can bracket the
peak by an hour before and an hour after. Minor
peaks, half-hour before and after. Adjusted for
daylight savings time.
AM PM
Minor Major Minor Major

sk any chefs and avid home cooks you know when they first got interested in cooking, and there’s a good
chance more than a few will tell you it was at a young age. Maybe it started as hanging around to sneak a
spoonful of pie filling or hoping for permission to lick icing-coated beaters. Maybe they wanted to spend more
time with their mom or nana or some other beloved relative. Whatever drew them to it, once they knew just a
little, they wanted to learn more.
Getting your kids in the kitchen is a great way to spend more quality time with them, time away from a screen of some
sort. It offers the chance to pass along family recipes, share memories and make new ones. You can teach them about
nutrition. You can augment the things they’re learning in school; your kitchen will become an interactive science and
math lab, turning abstract concepts into applications they can eat.
Once picky eaters see and understand what goes into a dish, they’re more likely to try (and like) new foods. And you’re
teaching them a practical skill that will come in handy when they set off on their own. Plus, as they get more and more
proficient, you gain a willing and helpful hand come dinnertime.
When it comes to imparting kitchen wisdom, it’s best to start simple. Try a selection from this handy dandy roundup of
kid-friendly, more “bite-size” recipes submitted by our younger readers. They’re just right for your budding junior cook’s
beginner lessons.

Junior Cook of the Month:

Ella Grace Stapleton, Baldwin EMC
Ella Grace Stapleton, age 12, learned
to cook from her dad, who owns a
catering company. While she loves to
bake sweets like cookies and brownies, she also loves the Stuffed Shells
recipe she submitted. “I like it because it is so cheesy and creamy and
because you can add or delete different things in the filling,” she said "I’ve
had some versions with bell peppers,
and I don’t like them, so I leave that
out.” She enjoys eating her creations,
but she’s also proud to be a help to her mom. “Sometimes my
mom works late, and so I cook dinner for us, and I like being
able to take that off her plate,” she said. She encourages other
kids to get in the kitchen for the same reasons. “You can do it,
and then you can be a help for your parents. Plus, it’s fun.”

Before you start to do anything, make sure that you steam
the shells completely. Turn your oven on 375 degrees so that
it can heat up while you are mixing. Mix pepper, salt, garlic
powder, onion powder, ricotta cheese, eggs and 2 cups of
mozzarella cheese well before piping in the shells. Place your
mixed ingredients in a Ziploc bag, and cut a hole in one of the
bottom corners of your bag so your ingredients can enter the
steamed shell easily. Seal the bag and then gently squeeze
the filling out of the corner hole into the steamed shells. After
stuffing the shells, you must get a pan that all your shells will
fit in. Spray the bottom of the pan with canola oil spray so
that the shells will not stick. After you apply the oil, cover the
bottom of the pan with marinara sauce (usually about ½ of
the jar), but make sure that you still have enough to apply to
the top. Add your shells into your pan and cover the top with
the other half of the sauce. Now add 1 cup of mozzarella on
top of the sauce. Before you place in the oven, be sure to cover with aluminum foil. After you place in the oven set a timer
for 50 minutes. When 50 minutes is over, remove foil and
place back in the oven for 10 more minutes. When 10 minutes
is over, take it out of the oven and be wowed.

www.alabamaliving.coop

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a long list of reasons
to teach your kids to cook, so
take the time to get them in the
kitchen with you and let them
learn hands-on.

Junior cook tip: find a guide

The internet is packed with lists and charts of
age-appropriate cooking tasks. But remember,
they are rough guides. All kids have different
temperaments, maturity levels and dexterity,
so use your judgment on what cooking tasks the
child in your life can tackle.
Pictured here: Nicole Esco and daughter Addi,
age 6, of Wetumpka, baking Salted Caramel Dark
Chocolate Cupcakes. (Recipe on page 46!)
Alabama Living

Caramel Sauce:
Mix the brown sugar, half-and-half,
butter and salt in a saucepan over
medium-low heat. Cook while whisking
gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it gets
thicker. Add the vanilla and turn off the
heat, cool slightly and pour the sauce
into jar.
Assemble:
Pipe icing on top of cupcakes. Drizzle on
caramel sauce and you can put a pretzel
on top.
Sarah Camp
Coosa Valley EC

Southern Pralines
2 cups sucanat (sugar cane natural
sweetener– a natural alternative to
brown sugar)
2 cups pecans (chopped or whole)
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra to
butter wax paper
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Roast the pecans by pouring them on
a pan and placing the pan in the oven.
Once the pecans are in the oven, turn
the oven on to 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Combine sucanat, roasted pecans,
butter and water in a pot and stir until
sucanat has partially dissolved. Cook
over medium heat until mixture reaches
240 degrees (soft ball) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Stir until mixture thickens and loses
some of its gloss. Drop immediately
onto buttered wax paper. After pralines
have cooled, wrap them in plastic wrap
and store in an airtight container. Makes
about 18 pralines. NOTE: Be sure to use
buttered wax paper. The wax paper
helps to lift the pralines after they are
hardened, and the butter helps them
not to stick to the wax paper. Optional:
Brown sugar can be used in the place of
sucanat.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Working with cooking
sugar can be tricky. It can bubble and
pop and really burn, so we suggest this
recipe for older and/or intermediate kid
cooks.

Ethan’s Banana Cake
1 butter cake mix
1 cup pecans, toasted in butter and
chopped
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed
Mix the cake mix according to box instructions. Add the bananas and pecans.
Pour batter into a well greased and
floured 13x9-inch dish. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and toothpick
inserted comes out clean. While warm,
pour on glaze.
Glaze:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
1/8 cup water (2 tablespoons)
In a small saucepan, boil all ingredients
for 3 minutes. Pour over warm cake in
pan.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Working with cooking
sugar can be tricky. It can bubble and
pop and really burn, so we suggest this
recipe for older and/or intermediate kid
cooks.
Ethan George, age 12
Marshall-DeKalb EC

Kathryn Tipton
South Alabama EC
Editor’s Note: Alabama Living’s recipes are submitted by our readers. They are not kitchen-tested by a professional cook or registered
dietician. If you have special dietary needs, please check with your doctor or nutritionist before preparing any recipe.
46 MAY 2018

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Spread mixture
in a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 30
minutes, or until it is set. Cut into squares and serve warm
topped with milk. The mixture will be crumbly. It makes a
great breakfast.
Sierra Joachim, age 15
South Alabama EC

Themes July: Frozen Treats | May 8
and August: Corn | June 8
Deadlines September: BBQ | July 8
Cook of the Month winners will receive $50, and may win “Cook of the Month”
only once per calendar year. One gift basket winner will be drawn monthly at
random and each name will be entered only once. Items in basket may vary
each month. To be eligible, submissions must include a name, phone number,
mailing address and co-op name. Alabama Living reserves the right to reprint
recipes in our other publications.
MAY 2018 47

| Classifieds |
How To Place a Line
Ad in Marketplace
Closing Deadlines
(in our office):

July 2018 Issue by May 25
August 2018 Issue by June 25
September 2018 Issue by July 25
Ads are $1.75 per word with a 10 word minimum and
are on a prepaid basis; Telephone numbers, email
addresses and websites are considered 1 word each.
Ads will not be taken over the phone. You may
email your ad to hdutton@areapower.com; or call
(800)410-2737 ask for Heather for pricing.; We accept
checks, money orders and all major credit cards. Mail
ad submission along with a check or money order
made payable to ALABAMA LIVING, P.O. Box 244014,
Montgomery, AL 36124 – Attn: Classifieds.

When it comes to Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast
Real Estate, THE PETE VAKAKES TEAM at Century
21 Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores are the ones
you should turn to. Call a team member today at
(251)948-8008. www.PeteOnTheBeach.com
TURN-KEY, WELL ESTABLISHED FULL SERVICE
MEMORIAL COMPANY FOR SALE located in SE
Alabama. Owner Retiring. Serious Inquiries Only,
email memorialcompany@yahoo.com

DO NOT TAMPER
WITH YOUR
ELECTRIC METER
Meter tampering can result in electric shock which
could be fatal. It is also an illegal activity.

Never break a
meter seal.
Never open a
meter base.
Never remove a
meter or alter
an entrance cable
in any manner.

If you know or suspect that someone has tampered with their meter, please
contact Covington Electric Cooperative immediately at 1-800-239-4121.

www.covington.coop

May is Electrical Safety Month

| Our Sources Say |

Moving to Iceland

L

ast December, in my article “Big Mike’s Bean House,” I attempted to demonstrate how misguided studies and impractical solutions impair serious discussion of climate change. In
particular, eliminating beef from our food sources is not a credible
solution to mitigating climate change. It just will not happen.
Putting aside the argument of the credibility of climate science,
the serious discussion of potential damage resulting from climate
change is also impaired by unrealistic studies and bizarre results that researchers and the government actually stand behind.
Last fall the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a summary of research, The American Climate Prospectus (Prospectus), which attempts to quantify the future cost of
climate change for the U.S. The Prospectus predicts an extremely large detrimental economic impact and serious health impacts from unmitigated climate change. The Prospectus, which
predicts doom and gloom from unmitigated climate change, utilizes dubious studies with conclusions sometimes in conflict with
common sense and elementary logic.
For example, a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relied on by the GAO in the Prospectus
concludes Pittsburgh’s extreme heat mortality rate in 2100 will
be 75 times higher than Phoenix’s 2000 rate. Yet the same study
acknowledges Pittsburgh’s climate in 2100 will not be as hot as
Phoenix’s in 2000.
Another study utilized by the Prospectus—using data as old as
1968—led to the conclusion that unmitigated climate change will
kill tens of thousands of people due to more globally widespread
temperatures above 90 degrees. However, the Prospectus ignored
a newer study by the same researchers showing mortality rates on
hot days have dropped substantially with the higher adoption of
air conditioning.
Studies of economic damage resulting from climate change produce equally bizarre results. A study paper conducted by professors at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley and
published in Nature found that warm countries tended to experience lower economic growth in abnormally warm years while
colder countries benefit.
Interestingly, the study finds colder countries will achieve unbelievable wealth and warmer countries will pay a devastating

price as the global economy declines under the weight of unmitigated climate change. For instance, by 2100 the annual per capita income in Iceland will soar to $1.5 million. That is more than
double the projected per capita income for any country other than
Finland, which is projected to be $860,000. Mongolia, which currently ranks 118th in national per capita income, will rise to 7th,
four times greater than the average American’s. The Canadian national economy will be seven times larger than China’s.
Of course, the results of the studies are nonsense. However, the
GAO relies on such garbage to reach conclusions on the direction of the United States economy and publish serious-appearing
Prospectuses on the damage to be inflicted by climate change. Environmentalists use the studies and reports to support their demands for immediate change to reduce the health and economic
damage of climate change.
The obvious flaw is that most of the models rely on past human behaviors and results as well as small sample sizes to extrapolate predictions of future outcomes from the large, slow shifts in
climate change. Humans and societies have an incredible capacity
to adapt when faced with high economic or health cost pressures.
The question of human adaptation is not an inconsequential factor for the study of the cost of future action or inaction. Yet, it is
often ignored.
The 1960’s overpopulation scare was logical unless one assumed
human adaption to a larger global population, improved farming
methods, and expansion of a seemingly finite supply of resources. All of which occurred, and the overpopulation scare is rarely
heard of today.
I could expound on the reasons the GAO would rely on obviously flawed data to paint an extreme picture on the ravages of
climate change. I could discuss similar flaws associated with the
basic climate change models and studies themselves. However, I
don’t have time. I need to start packing my beach clothes to move
to Iceland.
I hope you have a good month.
(This column is influenced by an article, “Doomsday Climate Scenarios are a Joke,” written by Oren Cass of the Manhattan Institute
and published in the Wall Street Journal.)

Gary Smith is President and CEO of
PowerSouth Energy Cooperative

52 MAY 2018

www.alabamaliving.coop

ALABAMA BOOKSHELF
In this periodic feature, we highlight books that are either about Alabama people or events or written by Alabama authors. Summaries are not reviews or endorsements. We also occasionally highlight book-related events. Email submissions to bookshelf@alabamaliving.coop Due to the volume of submissions, we are unable to feature all the books we receive.

Alabama’s Frontiers and the Rise of the Old South, by Daniel Dupre, Indiana University
Press, $35 (history) Alabama endured warfare, slave trading, squatting, and speculating
on its path to becoming America’s 22nd state. Dupre captures the riveting saga of the
forgotten struggles and savagery in Alabama’s — and America’s — frontier days.

Medusa’s Lair: A Chic Spark Novel, by Kenneth L. Funderburk, Archway Publishing,
$11.99 (crime novel) Chic Sparks is a clinical psychologist and part-time investigator
who begins a reckless search for his missing friend, who is a notorious crime boss.
Sparks’ actions put him in the middle of a deep criminal conspiracy, and he sets out to
unveil the truth – and locate his friend. The author lives in Phenix City.

Wilson’s Raid, by Russell W. Blount Jr., Arcadia Publishing and The History Press, $21.99
(military history) In the closing months of the Civil War, Gen. James Wilson led a Union
cavalry raid through Alabama and parts of Georgia. The author, an Alabama native, examines eyewitness accounts and diaries chronicling this defining moment in America’s
bloodiest war.

The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology: A Detailed Timeline of the Red Tails and Other
Black Pilots of World War II, by Daniel Haulman, NewSouth Books, $25.95 (military
history) This chronology provides an overview of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, embracing important events in the formation of the first military flying training for black
pilots in U.S. history. Their performance proved that with opportunity and resources,
black men could fly and fight every bit as well in combat as their white counterparts.

The Woman Left Behind, by Linda Howard, William Morrow, $26.99 (romantic suspense) Jina Modell is thrilled with an assignment to an elite paramilitary unit. Her team
leader, Levi, doesn’t have much confidence in her, but her courage wins him over. When
Jina’s position is attacked, Levi must bring back the woman he’s fallen for, dead or alive.
The author lives in Gadsden.

At First Light, by Sandy Harris, Moonshine Cove Publishing, $13.99 (mystery, suspense)
The sheriff ’s oﬃce thinks high school senior John Bateman viciously murdered three
friends while on a deer hunt. On the verge of being indicted for murder, evidence begins
to surface that something strange happened in the woods that day. Could his unbelievable story be true? The author lives in Wetumpka.

Alabama Living

MAY 2018 53

Illustration by Dennis Auth

| Hardy Jackson's Alabama |

Hurricane season
“Squalls out on the gulf stream
Big storm’s comin’ soon”
Jimmy Buffett
“Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season”

S

ome start as tropical waves off the coast of Africa.
Others just spring up from a depression down in the Caribbean.
They grow and grow and move until something makes them
stop – usually land. This is their season. Here come the hurricanes.
Though many of you are far from the coast, you need to keep
in mind that those storms can have an enormous, tragic impact
inland.
Well, if you get one, I hope you can find someone to call, someone like “Doll Baby.”
Let me explain.
First, don’t let the name fool you. “Doll” (as friends call him) is
much a man. Well over 6 feet tall, with bulk to go with it, he lives
in South Alabama with his wife Wanda. Like so many folks down
there, Doll has made his living in the woods, and as they say, “he
ain’t afraid of work.”
Back in 1990 Doll and Wanda were driving through South Carolina’s Francis Marion National Forest, a few months after Hurricane Hugo. Trees were still scattered every-which-a-way. Trucks
couldn’t get in to clean up without tearing up what was left. Seeing
the mess, the Alabama couple stopped at the Ranger Station and
told the attendant, in so many words, “what you need is mules.”
And since Doll had some, a deal was struck.
So, he went back home, rounded up a crew, loaded up the mules
Harvey H. (Hardy) Jackson is Professor Emeritus at Jacksonville
State University and a regular contributor to Alabama Living. He
can be reached at hjackson@cableone.net.

54 MAY 2018

-- Linda and Lisa, Mutt and Jeff, Maude and Rock -- and headed
to Carolina where they snaked logs until the weather got too hot
for man and beast. In the process, Doll and his mules became celebrities -- newspapers wrote about them, students from a nearby
college “studied” them, and a kindergarten class visited them. The
local TV station sent out a cute young female reporter to interview Doll, who took time from his work to show her the ropes -- a
little too much time, Wanda said.
Personally, I figure he was just being nice.
Of course, folks down Doll’s way know about hurricanes. Living
some 80 miles above Mobile, they count on getting the backwash
from storms through the summer and into the fall.
September gales, old folks called them.
But at times they were more than gales.
Back in 1969, Category 5 Camille tore into the Mississippi Gulf
Coast and its counterclockwise winds caused damage deep into
Alabama.
As the storm approached, coastal folks, the smart ones, began
heading north. The roads were jammed and motels full. So upcountry churches began setting up shelters and sending out the
word to their members that if they had an extra bedroom the refugees sure could use it.
My folks had one, so for a few days they hosted a fine family
from Baldwin County. Then it was over, and the guests headed
home to survey the damage.
For years after that, as hurricane season approached, my parents got a package from those folks. In it was a ham, and card
asking them to reserve a room, just in case.
They always did.
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